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The number of private-sector jobs in the state keeps growing — with July marking its 20th consecutive monthly upswing — according to preliminary figures released Thursday by the state Labor Department.

The numbers show that during July, there was a net increase in the state of 17,300 private-sector jobs.

The news wasn't so rosy in the Capital Region, where private-sector employment dropped by 1,500 jobs in July from June, although that figure was not seasonally adjusted.

The good news is that during the 12-month period ended in July, private-sector job numbers in the Capital Region are up 1.5 percent, from 348,300 private-sector jobs in July of 2013 to 353,500 jobs in July of this year.

Job losses in the government sector still keep dogging the region, at least in the short-term.

Total non-farm employment in the region, which includes government work, was down 6.7 percent for the month in July, although it is up nearly 1 percent for the past 12 months. However, those numbers are not seasonally adjusted.

The statewide unemployment rate was unchanged at 6.6 percent in July, remaining at its lowest level since November 2008.

The private sector had added jobs in 38 of the past 43 months, with July marking the 20th consecutive month of growth, according to the Labor Department.

"New York state now marks 20 straight months of private-sector job growth, the longest streak since at least 1990, as far as records go back.

However, the unemployment for upstate — all of the areas outside of New York City — edged up to 5.7 percent in July, compared to 5.6 percent in June, although that number was much higher in July 2013 at 7 percent.

The state's private-sector job count is based on a payroll survey of 18,000 New York employers conducted by the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics.